The Glendale Fire Department is a full-service, accredited department comprised of three branches, which are administered by the Fire Chief, two Assistant Fire Chiefs and an Administrator.

Our History

Our fire department began in 1912. It wasn’t until the 1950s that the city hired its first fulltime paid fire chief. During the next decade in the 1960s, Glendale was able to show the need to employ its first fulltime paid firefighters.

1950s… First fulltime paid fire chief1960s… First fulltime paid firefighters1970s… Firefighters become paramedics1980s… Firefighters become experts in Hazardous Materials1990s… Firefighters train and learn about Weapons of Mass DestructionNew millennium… the Glendale Fire Department is enthusiastically involved in the growth of the city with major residential and business developments and sporting venues.

Today

The Glendale Firefighters of years ago may have never envisioned our city having the needs it does today and the department having 240 firefighters, nine fire stations and responding to approximately 40,000 calls a year--in addition to being a fully accredited department. But even with all the changes, our core mission remains the same:

The citizens of Glendale are fortunate to be part of the Automatic Aid System. This agreement, created at the end of the 1970s among three Valley cities (Glendale, Tempe and Phoenix) has grown to now include 23 Valley cities. Automatic Aid ensures that the closest fire truck will respond to an emergency no matter which jurisdiction the emergency is located in. The following cities participate in this program:

Nationwide, there are thousands of fire departments that do not use Automatic Aid and they will not cross a city boundary to go to a fire or car accident just because the incident is not in their city. Can you imagine a frantic Glendale mother whose toddler was just found floating in the swimming pool having to wait for a fire truck from her city instead of the closest fire truck regardless of jurisdiction? Saying we are fortunate to have Automatic Aid is an understatement. This system is a worldwide model.

Glendale Fire Department responded to 34,789 incidents in 2011 with a combined total of 44,807 total dispatches through Phoenix’s Computer Aided Dispatch system, an innovative intergovernmental agreement called Automatic Aid allowing us to provide a high level of service at one of the lowest cost-per-citizen ratios in the nation.

The Financial Resources Division is a direct report to the Administrative Service's branch and that division plans, develops, facilitates and monitors the department’s budget and provides budget management support to all other divisions.

The two main branches are designed below:

Life Safety Services includes the following:

Operations Division is responsible for the daily delivery of emergency and non-emergency services to Glendale citizens. This division makes sure that everyday the fire trucks are staffed with personnel who respond to emergencies.

Special Operations is responsible for areas of expertise such as hazardous material, technical rescue and special events.

The Training and Safety Divisions develop and oversee all departmental training and continuing education programs for firefighters. This includes firefighter training, as well as certification and promotional examinations for engineer, captain, chief officers and incident safety officers, researching employee health/safety issues and performing accident/injury review and incident critiques.

Personnel Division is responsible for the Human Resource programs and processes within the fire department.

The Support Services Division coordinates the acquisition and delivery of all materials and equipment used at the fire stations. The division is also responsible for overseeing the department’s vehicle fleet and maintenance of its fire stations.

Emergency Medical Services provides advanced and basic life support services to the sick and injured through a variety of medical technologies and treatment specialties. This division also provides CPR/AED training within the organization.

The Fire Prevention Office ensures that new and existing structures are in compliance with the Glendale Fire Code through plans review and inspection services. Fire Investigations and the Juvenile Fire-Setter program referrals are also administered through this division.

Community Services
provides a high level of community partnership through education, interaction, participation and awareness. This division includes the CCC Program; Fire PALS in the schools, the SAFETY Clowns, the Honor Guard, the Safety Educator Program and several other education type community based programs.

The Public Information Division manages all information released to the media and the public, and develops and implements pro-active campaigns and projects that reach, inform, educate and involve citizen and target audiences.

Facilities and Stations:

Fire Administration: Glendale Fire Department’s administrative offices and Fire Prevention offices are located in the old Sine Hardware Building at 6829 N. 58th Drive,
Glendale, AZ 85301. The offices moved to this building in May 2014.

Support Services: Support Services is located at a former fire station located at 7501 N.55th Ave. that has been renovated to accommodate an SCBA, turnout, hose repair, and small tool repair shop. There is an office, locked storage rooms and four apparatus rooms for additional storage. Additional support service storage is utilized at a city owned building utilizing assigned cages to city departments.

Training Facility: In March of 2007 the fire department opened and currently operates a Westside Regional training facility located at 11550 W Glendale Ave. This training facility is utilized by several West valley fire departments as well as the Glendale Police Department. All Fire recruit and company trainings are conducted at this facility. The facility has a driver’s training track for fire apparatus driver training. An office and two classrooms are located at fire station 157. The department shares the use of the classrooms with Glendale Community College.

Each station has a kitchen, living area, bathroom and locker room, separate bedrooms, exercise room, appropriate storage space, an OSHA required clean room and an apparatus room. In 2001, the city of Glendale was identified as a Metropolitan Medical Response System city. This title gave the fire department responsibility and funding to develop plans and gather resources to be used regionally in the event of a large-scale natural or man-made disaster. The department has accumulated a mass of resources, including trailers, forklifts, specialty vehicles and palletized EMS supplies.